Robert Meakin

Robert regularly advises on starting up new charities and offers all the documents needed for registration such as funding agreements, grant-making criteria, resolutions and policies. His inside experience as a lawyer advising the Charity Commission’s Registration Division is invaluable to clients.  

• Advises on Charity Commission Reviews and appeals to the Charity Tribunal. The most high-profile appeal was Cambridge Islamic College which successfully overturned a Charity Commission direction to change the name. 
• Advised on the establishment of The Catholic Sacred Arts Trust; a national arts and heritage charity with a group of underlying companies; The College of Paramedics following its award of a Royal Charter; and Fulbourn Windmill Trust, a charity set up to preserve a Cambridge historic windmill. 
• Advised on the hive-off of St Edmund’s College, Ware, from The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster. 
• Advised the establishment of New Schools Network, a charity advising on the set up of Free Schools. 
• Advised several Cambridge Colleges on registration with the Charity Commission and several environmental charities for Veolia under the Landfill Tax Scheme along with a number of government-sponsored charities including The Tate Bankside. 
• Advised a number of charities converting from exempt charitable status to being registered at the Charity Commission including Cirencester Housing for Young People. 

A large part of Robert’s work involves advising charities on becoming incorporated as CIOs or companies limited by guarantee. This includes where possible using the statutory conversion processes. Included within this work is advice on charity mergers, charity structures, and underlying companies such as trading companies. 

• Advises on the duties and responsibilities of charity trustees and the extent of their powers.  
• Advised a City Livery Company on a fundraising vehicle, advising a FTSE-sized company on restructuring as a charitable group. 
• Advised several national charities on mergers including: Bleddfa Trust, YMCA, Stroke Association UK, and Age UK 
• Advised on the merger of The Royal Society for Public Health and The Royal Society of Health. 
• Advised on the award of Royal Charters for The Society of Chemical Industry and Homerton College, University of Cambridge. 
• Advised on the incorporation of the Catholic Chaplaincy at Cambridge University. 
• Advised on the incorporation of IBVM Loreto as a CIO. 
• Applied for an amendment to the purposes of Association of British Carmels Charitable Trust 
• Advised on governance changes for Young Enterprise, ASH, and Modern Humanities Research Association. 
• Advised on an underlying charitable trust used to make donations to the Vatican.  
• Principal solicitor advising St Benedict’s Abbey, Ealing. on the implementation of The Carlisle Report and the hive off of St Benedict’s College to a new charitable company. 

Robert advises on contentious issues facing charities, whether this be judicial reviews, in the High Court or before the Charity Tribunal. He is often instructed by charities when they face an inquiry by the Charity Commission. Often, where possible, he advises charities at the regulatory review stage and seeks to resolve issues quickly so as to avoid triggering a Charity Commission inquiry. 

• Advised the Monitoring and Investigations Division when at the Charity Commission.  
• Acted for the majority of the school fees charities in the largest-ever Charity Commission and HMRC inquiry which threatened to remove the charities from the register of charities and was eventually settled with existing beneficiaries granted an extra statutory tax concession and non-charitable activities hived off to a non-charitable trading subsidiary. 
• Advised St Benedict’s Abbey on an inquiry by the Charity Commission into sex abuse allegations which led to the Carlisle Report. 
• Advised a Church charity on a factional dispute which led to a settlement in the High court and a separate charity being formed for the breakaway faction. 
• Advised numerous religious charities on membership disputes involving the Charity Commission authorising proceedings or mediation. 
• Advised a family charity on conflicts of interest which led to a Charity Commission inquiry and a reorganisation of the charity. 
• Acted for the majority of the school fees charities in the largest ever Charity Commission and HMRC inquiry. 
• Acted for Trustees threatened with Official Warnings by the Charity Commission. 

Robert advises charities on governance, restructuring, mergers, and regulatory matters, including canon law issues, Royal Charters, and high-value investigations involving the Charity Commission and HMRC. 

• Acted for an international Roman Catholic order that operates care facilities for older people on matters arising from €27m in secured borrowing from AIB that it used as financial support for its operations in Ireland. This involved obtaining consent from Rome. 
• Advised a FTSE 100 sized company on options to restructure as a non-charitable group. 
• Advised a landed estate on heritage charity options. 
• Advised a national church arts and heritage charity on its establishment as a charity and a group of companies. 
• Advised a city livery company on a restructuring involving a charitable trust. 
• Acted for two charities involved in one of the largest-ever Charity Commission and HMRC investigations and negotiating a successful outcome. 
• Successfully represented Cambridge Islamic College in a £5m tribunal appeal against the Charity Commission, which challenged the body’s power to direct a change of name. 
• Advised several national charities on mergers including YMCA, Stroke Association UK, and Age UK. 
• Advised Cirencester Housing for Young People Ltd on its conversion from being an exempt charity to becoming a registered charity. 
• Provided governance advice to a charitable care home for former members of the entertainment industry. 
• Acted in the setting up of a trading company for a charity running care homes. 
• Acted in the incorporation of a charitable care home to gain limited liability. 
• Advised Society of Chemical Industry on the adoption of a new Royal Charter, By-laws and Rules. 
• Advised on the award of a Royal Charter to Homerton College, University of Cambridge. 
• Advised The Royal Society for Public Health on its merger with the Royal Society of Health and the adoption of a new Royal Charter and by-laws. 
• Advised several Cambridge Colleges on registration with the Charity Commission. 

Robert advises schools, colleges, and universities on governance, restructuring, and regulatory compliance, including academy conversions, charitable spin-outs, trusts, and canon law considerations in faith-based education. 

• Successfully represented Cambridge Islamic College in a £5m tribunal appeal against the Charity Commission, which challenged the body’s power to direct a change of name 
• Acted for an independent school being hived off from a diocese into a new charitable company 
• Advised the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia on the option of their schools becoming academy schools. 
• Was the principal solicitor advising Ealing Abbey on the hive-off of St Benedict’s School into a separate charitable company in compliance with The Carlisle Report. 
• Advised on the creation of School Companies under the Education Act 2002 as umbrella charities to enable schools to share costs and resources. 
• Advised a privately owned Roman Catholic school on its sale to a commercial education provider and in particular putting in place safeguards to satisfy canonical requirements to retain the status as a Roman Catholic school. 
• Advised a university on the amalgamation of its restricted trust assets. 
• Advised on the creation and registration of New Schools Network, a charity supporting the establishment of free schools. 

Recognised by Chambers UK for Charities 2000–2026 

Recognised by The Legal 500 for Charities & Not-for-Profit 2000–2026 

Recognised in Best Lawyers UK for Charities 2020–2025 

Recognised in Citywealth Leader’s List for 2025 

Author of The Law of Charitable Status: Maintenance and Removal (CUP, 2008) and Charity in the NHS: Policy and Practice (Jordans, 1998)